PITTSBURG, Kan. — A new abortion clinic in Pittsburg, Kansas, is now the state’s fourth clinic offering access to abortions.
In the month it’s been opened, the abortion clinic has already served patients in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana.
The new clinic is just a five-mile drive from Missouri's border.
"I know that the community will benefit from having Planned Parenthood services in their backyard," Logan Rink, the health care manager of the new clinic, said.
Rink is a Pittsburg native.
She said part of what bringing these services to the area accomplishes is addressing an under-served population.
"I think that really lends to the location and being more accessible to people in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas than, you know, an extra two-hour or three-hour drive to Wichita and Overland Park," she said.
The clinic is currently offering medication abortions. They will be phasing in procedure abortions.
"We're in the middle of an abortion access crisis," Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains said. "We have more patients than we can support, and we've been trying to figure out how to meet both the national needs because this is a regional problem."
In November, Missourians will decide whether to restore abortion rights on election day.
If passed, Amendment 3 would guarantee the right to an abortion until fetal viability.
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the case that gave women the right to an abortion.
After that 2022 ruling, Missouri became the first state in the U.S. to ban abortion.
A trigger law took effect, restricting abortion at all stages of pregnancy.
Less than two months later, Kansans went to the polls where they voted to protect abortion rights.
Since then, women in Missouri seeking an abortion have had to leave the state.
A spokesperson for the Pittsburg clinic said that Missourians are among the highest number of out-of-state patients seeking care in Kansas.
"The health centers we run in central and western Missouri have not had abortion access for years before that point." Wales said. "Since 2018 and then in Kansas, we were overwhelmed."
As patients travel, and Missourians prepare to vote, Wales hopes people think twice on the toll of the drive.
“When you add on top of that a 10 or 12 or 15 hour trip, it can become impossible,” Wales said. “Balancing state restrictions with childcare and work is overwhelming."
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